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Richard Rockefeller killed in plane crash near Westchester County Airport

Thane Grauel and Lee Higgins
9:28 a.m. EST November 2, 2014

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

Parts of the wreckage of a plane that crashed shortly after take off from Westchester County Airport sits in a tree in the yard of a home at 120 Cottage Avenue in Purchase June 13, 2014. Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the pilot of the plane was killed in the crash. (Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Richard Rockefeller, Nancy Rockefeller, Susan Rockefeller and David Rockefeller Jr. attend the Girard-Perregaux Honors Susan And David Rockefeller At Screening Of "Mission Of Mermaids" on June 5, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/WireImage) (Photo: Jason Kempin WireImage)

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Richard Rockefeller, Nancy Rockefeller, Susan Rockefeller and David Rockefeller Jr. attend the Girard-Perregaux Honors Susan And David Rockefeller At Screening Of "Mission Of Mermaids" on June 5, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/WireImage) (Photo: Jason Kempin WireImage)

This is a photo of the plane that crashed in Purchase June 13, 2014 Ð The pilot was killed Friday morning when the small plane he was flying - registered to a Richard Rockefeller - crashed in a neighborhood near the Westchester County Airport shortly after takeoff. Photo courtesy of FlightAware (Photo: Photo courtesy of FlightAware)

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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 05: (L-R) Richard Rockefeller, Nancy Rockefeller, Susan Rockefeller and David Rockefeller Jr. attend the Girard-Perregaux Honors Susan And David Rockefeller At Screening Of "Mission Of Mermaids" on June 5, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/WireImage)(Photo: Jason Kempin WireImage)

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Piper Meridian, a single-engine turbo prop plane, is about 30 feet long

Richard Rockefeller had flown his small plane from his home in Maine to Westchester on Thursday to have dinner with his father, David, who was celebrating his 99th birthday. The journey, just before Father's Day, turned tragic on Friday when the 65-year-old doctor and philanthropist took off from Westchester County Airport for the flight home. Less than 10 minutes later, he was killed when his plane crashed near the SUNY Purchase campus.

"It's a terrible tragedy," said family spokesman Fraser Seitel, who confirmed the death. "The family is in shock. Richard was a wonderful and cherished member of the family. He was an experienced pilot. He was a medical doctor, and it's horribly sad."

Richard Rockefeller, the son of banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller, was killed Friday when the small plane he was piloting crashed in a neighborhood near the Westchester County Airport shortly after takeoff. (Video by Frank Becerra Jr./TJN)
Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News

The Rockefeller estate, which includes Kykuit and David Rockefeller's Hudson Pines, is in Pocantico Hills and the family has long been one of the most prominent in Westchester.

Westchester County Airport air traffic control trying to contact Dr. Richard Rockefeller's Piper Meridian, which crashed shortly after takeoff on Friday, June 13, 2014. The audio was condensed for time.
Yaron Steinbuch/The Journal News

Airport operations administrator Peter Scherrer said the plane, a Piper Meridian single-engine turboprop, took off from Runway 16 at the airport and went down at 8:08 a.m., narrowly missing a house and crashing into treetops off Cottage Avenue in Purchase. The weather was foggy and rainy. The flight had been expected to last an hour and 14 minutes.

Richard Rockefeller lived in Falmouth, Maine. According to FlightAware flight tracking service, the plane had left Portland International Jetport in Maine at 2:22 p.m. Thursday and landed at Westchester Airport at 3:41 p.m.

Police can be seen near the scene of a fatal plane crash on Cottage Avenue in Purchase on June 13, 2014. (Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

Richard Rockefeller practiced as a family physician in Falmouth until 2000 and had worked on global health causes. He served as president of the Health Commons Institute, a nonprofit organization, and chairman of the U.S. Advisory Board of Doctors Without Borders, according to the Rockefeller Brothers Trust Fund website. He was married and had two grown children.

Scherrer said Rockefeller, who was the only person on board, flew out of the airport regularly. There were no reports of any other injuries.

Small-plane fatalities decreasing

In the past 20 years, general aviation accident deaths have gone down by almost half -- from 744 to 432. Since 2000, they have decreased by almost 30% though the fatality rate per 100,000 hours flown remains far higher than for commercial airlines. In some years, commercial air carriers have no fatal accidents.

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Fatalities

Year

Source: National Transportation Safety Board

Linda Dono, USA TODAY

Note: 2012 data are preliminary and are most recent available.

Pilots said the weather could easily have contributed to the crash. Rocco Cipriano, a board member of the Westchester Aviation Association, said the low cloud ceiling would make recovery from a problem difficult. He said procedures at Westchester County Airport would require the aircraft taking off from Runway 16 to climb 800 feet and turn right.

Cipriano said the weather conditions were not ideal.

"If that engine quit and you're 1,000 feet in the air and you look out, you know what you're seeing? Nothing. You're seeing nothing but white," he said. The Mamaroneck resident mostly flies Cessna Skyhawks and owns an aviation marketing consulting business.

Scherrer, the operations administrator, said that judging from the wreckage, the plane appeared to have followed those procedures. He also said that there was no indication that Richard Rockefeller issued a "Mayday" or radioed that there was any kind of problem.

Harrison Police Chief Anthony Marraccini said debris from the plane was spread over several hundred feet and jet fuel was splattered over much of the crash site. He said Rockefeller's body was found about 10 feet from a large piece of wreckage that included the cockpit. The body was removed by the Westchester Medical Examiner's Office shortly before noon.

"It was lucky there was no fire," Marraccini said. "There are some very large pine trees that could have ignited very easily."

A Piper Meridian is about 30 feet long, about 11 feet high with a 43-foot wingspan and carries 170 gallons of fuel. They retail beginning about $2.2 million and seat six. The turboprop allows it to fly higher and faster than a piston-engine plane.

"It's not a cheap aircraft," Cipriano said. "It's for the one-percenter."

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to head up the crash investigation.

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Police near the scene of a plane crash on Cottage Avenue in Purchase on June 13, 2014.(Photo: Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

The airport closed after the crash but flights resumed at 9:45 a.m., Scherrer said.

Multiple police vehicles and a fire truck surround cottage Avenue in Purchase after a small plane appeared to have crashed near Westchester County Airport. Video by Thane Grauel

Comments on the death of Dr. Richard Rockefeller from philanthropic organizations he was involved in.

- "Richard gave so much of his life to support Doctors Without Borders," said Dr. Deane Marchbein, MD, president of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers-USA. "He made so many vital contributions that have helped Doctors Without Borders provide independent medical humanitarian assistance to millions of patients in over 70 countries. The entire Doctors Without Borders family extends its profound condolences to Richard's family. We are devastated by his loss."

Rockefeller was instrumental in founding Doctors Without Borders in the United States and served the organization in a number of capacities since 1989.

- Tim Glidden, President of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, a conservation organiation, said the group was "deeply saddened by the news of Richard Rockefeller's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

"Richard's passion for the coast of Maine was a central part of his entire life," Glidden said. "He followed his mother's footsteps in making Maine Coast Heritage Trust a place to put that passion into action. We are eternally grateful for his many contributions to the land conservation movement in Maine and across the world."

Richard served on MCHT's board and council continuously from 1989 – 2014 and served as board chair from 2000 – 2006.

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Police cruisers and a fire truck stopped at the corner of Cottage Avenue and Purchase Street in Purchase after reports of a small plane crashing in a neighborhood near the Westchester County Airport.(Photo: Thane Grauel/The Journal News)